MAN IN THE IRON MASK, THE

SYNOPSIS:
In 1660, the young Louis XIV (Leonardo DiCaprio) reigns
arrogantly over France. Of the legendary Muskateers, only one has
remained in the Royal service, D’Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne),
while Athos (John Malkovich) lives a simple life as a widower
with a son, Raoul (Peter Sarsgaard) who is about to get engaged
to the beautiful Christine (Judith Godreche). But the King
fancies Christine for himself and arranges for Raoul to be sent
to the front, to make way for himself. Meanwhile, Paris is
starving, and all Louis XIV does is send out rotting food that
his army has left. Riotous Frenchmen threaten his tranquility and
his court is restless with a King so ignoble. Aramis (Jeremy
Irons), who has turned to the priesthood, Porthos (Gerard
Depardieu), who has turned to licentiousness and Athos, who has
turned to solitude, the legendary Muskateers, re-unite to try and
repair the Crown; one for all and all for one. The basis of the
plan is the extraordinary secret of the man in the iron mask.
Only D’Artignan refuses take part, misguidedly and
desperately clinging to the notion of loyalty to the King. This
makes the Muskateers’ mission even more dangerous – but
danger has never deterred these men of passion and valour. And when the need arises – which is often throughout this
adventure - they are as courageous as ever, and as resourceful.

"Propelled by a star-powered cast, The Man in the Iron
Mask is engaging, impressively staged with plenty of pizzazz and
entertainment value. Randall Wallace’s handling of Alexandre
Dumas’ tale has enjoyable characterisations and excellent
production values, with sumptuous surroundings and locations.
Wallace takes us to an era in which honour takes pride of place,
and valour, loyalty and courage are of ultimate importance.
Romance, pomp, ceremony and splendour make an authentic backdrop
integral to the story. The price we pay for this high-class cast,
is that there’s not too much validity or consistency in the
variety of accents of the leading players. But this is Hollywood,
and relatively easy to forgive, because the performances are
terrific. Leonardo DiCaprio affirms his strong screen presence
with the dual roles of the royal twins, while each of the other
seasoned leads shines in his own way. Irons with his piercing
gaze, Malkovich’s heated passion, Byrne’s subtlety and
Dépardieu’s clowning around. There are some very funny
moments. In fact, it looked like these boys were having a whale
of a time. In the wig department, prize for the scruffiest goes
to Dépardieu, closely followed by Malkovich. One of the
film’s great strengths is the fluid musical score, which
matches the ceremony and splendour, yet retains emotional
sensitivity. A little long at just over two hours, The Man in the
Iron Mask is an enjoyable romp, whose main calling card is a host
of acting talent."
Louise Keller

"Very kind of you, Louise, because the acting talent is
also the weakness you mention, making the make the film more
distant than it should be. It should be as moving as a road train
on the Nullarbor, and at least as emotionally involving as
Braveheart, Randall Wallace’s Scottish period epic. The
disparity of the cast’s ethnicity interferes with the
process of getting attached to this motley crew, and the clash of
idioms inherent in a deeply French story, with actors such as
DiCaprio and Malkovich in particular, prevents us from engaging
with them on an emotional level – leaving intellect to do
the work of the heart. It’s not meant for it. While
DiCaprio’s performance as the ill-fated twins is as good as
you’d want, his contemporariness gets in the way. Likewise
with Malkovich, who is written as a warm and loving father with a
grieving heart; in the context of France under Louis XIV,
Malkovich is a modern man with modern – American –
mannerisms. Gabriel Byrne manages to infiltrate D’Artagnan,
just, but even Jermey Irons’ well observed, appealing
Aramis, comes a cropper in this multicultural cast, for lack of
cohesion alone. These fatal flaws flatten an otherwise fiery
fantasy, romantic and tragic all at once, with plenty of
spectacle for the eyes from cinematographer Peter Suschitzky, and
a really excellent score by Nick Glennie-Smith."
Andrew L. Urban

"Remember the one about the Irishman, the American, the
Englishman and the Frenchman? Well voilà, they are now the four
musketeers instead of the butt of many a joke. Or are they?
Welcome to another cinematic incarnation of The Man in the Iron
Mask, with plenty of naked swords, half naked wenches and the odd
bit of naked humour. This is more Hollywood than Alexandre Dumas,
and it shows, with its simplistic tale of power and greed versus
innocence and honour. It’s kind of 17th century Star Wars,
minus the black garb. Not that this Man is a total write-off by
any means, it's just incredibly shallow. Production values are
high, with its lavish costumes and intricate design making it a
sumptuous affair. And if one forgets how much it departs from the
book, as entertainment goes it's fun to watch, but what makes it
so is not the stony performance of a tired Leonardo DiCaprio, but
the masters of screen stardom who surrounds him. Leo might get
the bucks and the adoring women, but seeing the likes of Jeremy
Irons, Gerard Depardieu, John Malkovich and Gabriel Byrne strut
their stuff, reminds us of the power of movie acting. Leo, my
friends, just hasn't got it. Not yet anyway. While there seems to
be an assorted number of pronunciations of D'Artagnon (can't
studios afford dialect coaches?), this film comes alive as our
heroes combine forces in spectacular style. All for one and one
for all? Not quite, but almost."
Paul Fischer